As Sweet As Sugar
by Iris Of The Open Skies
Summary: All her life, Mika has been bullied for her height. One day while working in her mother's bakery, a very tall individual tells her he likes her for her height, and ever since then nothing has been the same! With Atsushi along, the bullying considerably stopped and also, Mika wonders what her relationship with the tall man is. The answer would most definitely baffle her.[AtsushixOC]
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue:**

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She was tired of it. Of all the glares she received in the school corridor and of all the whispers behind her back. It used to never bother her before in Middle School, but Yosen was a new place.

And she didn't have a single person she cared for to stop her from losing her temper anyway. She can be quite the scary person, being almost taller than a few of the boys in her class. It wasn't her fault, her father was tall and his father was tall, it was something that passed down generations in her family.

'It's genes, damnit…' She thought to herself and walked out of school, not concerning herself with the boys that snickered at her as she walked past them. "She's like a giant's offspring, don't you think?" She heard one of the males say and she clicked her tongue and continued walking.

As soon as she was away from the area, Mika let out a sigh of frustration and brushed a hand through her hair. She held her broken glasses in her hand and sighed. _They did it again_. As tall as she was, Mika was gentle toward girls. And the girls bullied her more than the boys did, because all the males did were point at her and make fun. They never tried anything physical.

Mika sustained what the girls did to her though, because she was patient with them. They just took advantage of the fact, and ambushed her when she was alone in the bathroom. Her glasses were broken her bag now had graffiti inked all over it.

She stepped inside her mother's pastry store and sighed, "I'll take over now!" She said to the old woman who looked too pleased to see Mika. "Oh, Mika! You're growing taller every day!" Mika frowned and glared at the old lady before grunting, "Oh? And how is that supposed to be a compliment?" The old woman gulped with fear, and walked out of the store.

A few minutes after Mika sat in front of the store, before the counter, a few males from her school popped in. She couldn't do anything to them now, because once they entered the store they were her customers and she couldn't obviously say anything to them.

She was used to this, but in a way, she wasn't. "She's so tall that she won't ever find a boyfriend! They're all going to be shorter than her anyway…" Mika fixated her gaze on her glasses and sighed. "If you're not here to buy anything, I suggest you get out-""She's just a faker, really. She's so tall and she isn't even an athlete! She's so useless..."

That got to her. She snapped her glasses, breaking them more than it already was and glared at the boys before standing up. "Get. Out." She said, biting her teeth and the males laughed. She walked toward them, dangerously slowly, she was taller than them by a few inches and she gasped out in anger, "You don't want me to hit you and make you shorter than you already are, then get out!" She screamed and the males left immediately.

There were tears in her eyes now. She wasn't useless. Sure, she wasn't an athlete and everyone in her family was one, but she wasn't interested in sports. Her father played football and her younger brother was a swimmer. Her mother baked. And baking wasn't a sport.

She turned away from the door and gasped once before wiping the tears off her eyes. 'I shouldn't be crying over what those retards say…' She thought and sniffed once, before feeling a presence behind her. She knew they were here once more to make fun of her. She was tired of this.

In an instant, she turned around to find a boy's chest before her and she glared. 'He's a tall bastard and he wants to make fun of me for being tall? Hypocrite!' She thought and took a deep breath before saying, "You've got some nerve showing up here!"

The male, who had a box of pocky in his hand, blinked. He had purple hair, and eyes that matched and he was taller than her by several inches. He was actually the tallest person she had ever laid her eyes on. Mika scowled and said, "You showing up here being so tall yourself! Don't you have any humanity?"

The boy blinked at her, clearly understood that she misunderstood him for someone else. "I wasn't here to-""I don't need your excuses, tall guy! You can't make fun of me for being tall when you're so tall yourself! Aren't you ashamed!?" Mika let out loudly and took a deep breath, her broken glasses in her hands, firmly.

The male smiled, and Mika gulped. He looked a little…scary, now. But the frown on her face never left. He lifted his hand and Mika shut her eyes, waiting for the impact to come but it never did. Instead, she felt a hand on her head and she opened her eyes widely and she looked up to see him, "What the-""I'm not here to make fun of you." He said, his voice resembling a child.

"I'm here to take my order of cake." He said once more and Mika blushed with embarrassment. She gulped and blinked once before saying, "But you're from Yosen, and I'm from Yosen and the guys from Yosen make fun of me-""Not all guys." The male fought back, childishly and said, "Can I have my order now?" Mika gulped and noticed his hand was still on her head.

She turned away and cleared her throat once before checking the register. _He did come for an order!_ She was so embarrassed now. Mika sighed and groaned, hearing the male chuckle behind her. "I'm sorry…Mr. Atsushi Murasakibara. I'm really sorry-""You didn't hurt me." Atsushi said, and Mika groaned once more.

"Do people bully you? Why do you let them?" the male asked and said, "I'm tall too. People are afraid of me." She thought she was talking to a child. "I don't let them bully me. They do ti because I don't stop them." Mika let out and Atsushi hummed before muttering, "That's pretty much the same." Mika frowned.

She went inside the baking room to bring out the order and she handed it to him. "I'm sorry again." She said, and the male smiled. He looked at her identity badge which was on her apron and said, "Mika-chin." She didn't know why he added the '-chin' to her name but she wasn't complaining.

"You're tall, I like you." Mika's face suddenly turned red and her eyes were wide. Atsushi walked out, waving at her and said once more, "See you around Mika-chin." She didn't know who he was, and what he did.

A stranger told her he liked her for being tall. That was a first.

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_**Author's Note:** Here's the Atsushi Murasakibara story that I've been working on! My Midorima story will be up shortly after I'm done with my Aomine story. Read and review on this guys, and let me know what you think! _


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One -**

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She was lost. Her direction sense was not bad, but how could she be lost to the school she so regularly went to? Her eyebrow twitched with annoyance, and she groaned, regretting helping the old lady walk to the train station even if Mika had never been to the train station before. She knew she was early, but now she was getting late, and she had no idea where she was. In another five minutes, class would begin and Mika would be late, _again_, for the fifth time that week.

"Aw, this sucks!" She exclaimed, and ran forward, not even bothering where she was running to, and her brand new thick red framed glasses held tightly in her hands. She needed them for reading, since Mika had a very heavy reading habit. It was ten minutes later, by some miracle, that she reached school and entered class, scratching the back of head apologetically, the stern face of the teacher watching her and waiting for an answer.

Mika let out a breath, and licked her lips, and said, "Sorry, I helped an old lady-""Liar!" The class erupted and Mika felt a sweat drop. Her shoulder length titian hair was messy, and her big, bright hazel eyes looked questioningly at the teacher. "Am I allowed inside or…?" The teacher sighed and asked her to come forward and Mika did, but when she stopped a step before her teacher, the class started to laugh.

Mika knew why. She was several inches taller than the man, and that was something worth laughing about, right? Note the sarcasm. Mika fiddled with the edge of her baggy light pink sweater and apologized one more time, before the teacher asked her to take her seat. Just when she did take her seat, at the last row, near the window, she could feel someone's eyes bore into her but she ignored it. She was used to being looked at as a freak. No woman was near six feet in Japan, and if she was, then that was rare and she had to be made fun of.

She leaned back and stared out of the window, this time she wore her glasses. It bothered her greatly, that she was so tall. She wasn't an athlete, but that was her preference. It was hereditary, and her father wasn't Japanese to begin with. Her name was Mika Snyder. Her father was from the Netherlands, and the average height for women in the Netherlands was five feet and eight inches. For men it was over six feet. It wasn't her fault that she was a little taller than most.

When she was off in her thoughts, she didn't notice a certain very tall individual look at her with interest. He had met her before, but he didn't think being tall was such a bad thing. She was really tall, that he knew, she was close to being six feet, or probably she was in the six foot family, but he didn't think it was bad for a girl while it was good for a guy. She wore a sweater because she thought it would help her look 'normal' but the male caught her height immediately.

A smile grazed his lips, it had been three days since he had spoken to her, the last time he did was in her bakery. He wanted to talk to her once again, there was simply no reason, and he would. He didn't like the fact that he wasn't allotted a seat next to her, but that would change. He would kindly ask the boy beside her to switch seats. And by _kindly_, he thought pressing his hand over his head was the best way.

Sometimes, he had no idea how intimidating he was. After class, Mika heard a chair creak beside her and she turned to her right to see a familiar purple headed boy sit beside her. She blinked once, her leg which was stretched till the chair in front of her pulled back as she leaned forward on the desk, thinking about where she had seen this tall boy before. "Mika-chin, you don't look happy."

She blinked. '-chin' brought it all back. "You're that guy!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger at him and the male simply grinned back. He took out two candy bars and offered her one, before she rejected it. "Why-""I don't like sweets…uh…" she had forgotten his name. "What's your name again?" by this question, the male looked startled. "Atsushi." He said and Mika blinked. "Shouldn't I be calling you by your last name-""Not you. You can call me by my first name, Mika-chin."

'Okay…' Since she was born in the Netherlands, she wasn't used to calling people by their last names. They didn't look at things like that over there, and it was new to her when she moved to Japan nine years ago. She didn't mind it when someone called her by her first name at all, and she wouldn't mind calling someone by theirs. "Atsushi." She said once and the taller male nodded and then turned away, and placed his head on the table, and not talking for a while after that.

But, that left her in her own inner deliberation. Why was he being so kind to her? He had never spoken to her before, and now that she realized they were classmates, it was even weird since she hadn't sensed him around before. Whatever the reason was, she couldn't see it, but she didn't mind. Here was a guy who wasn't teasing her for her height. To her, that was a good thing.

A second later, Atsushi looked up at her and said, "Why don't you like sweets?" Mika blinked, wondering if that was a bad thing. "Uh…I work at a pastry store, I think I've had enough sweets for a lifetime." Murasakibara then made a sound that resembled something like a giggle and Mika pursed her lips. The awkwardness wasn't dying.

This was probably the second time she was talking to him and he had asked her to call him by his first name, which considering Japanese people as a big deal. And he already had a nickname for her, which she didn't mind, since 'Mika-chin' sounded cuter than 'giant'. Mika had a soft spot for cute things. He even came and sat beside her, not bothered about asking a teacher for a place change either. The only question that remained was this:

_Why her?_

Murasakibara placed his hands on the table, positioning them like a pillow for his head and thought about the moment Mika entered the classroom. He licked his lips, a light smirk forming on his lips as he recalled Mika licking hers. She was tall. And there was one other thing. She worked at a pastry store. It was as though God had heard all of his hidden requests, and decided to shower them upon him. Now was not the time, however.

She decided to ask him that, and after the next class, when she noticed him almost dozing off, she poked him on his head, which easily alerted his attention and she said, "Why…why are you letting me call you by your first name? Why are you sitting beside me? I…I don't understand-""Do you mind that, Mika-chin?" Mika blinked and thought about it. She shook her head and then Atsushi smiled warmly at her.

He placed his heavy hand on her head, just like he did when he first met her and said, "If you don't mind then it isn't a problem is it?" Mika blinked. "Uh, yeah, I suppose." Mika said, but wasn't satisfied. "Atsushi-kun…I just-""Because it's you, Mika-chin." He argued back, resembling more like a child as he did.

Mika turned away, with a bright blush on her face, Murasakibara finally taking his hand off her head. She only wondered one thing. Since when was '_because it's you'_ an answer to every question she asked?

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_**Author's Note:** Hello, dear readers! My updates for this story will be slightly slower than my Aomine story because I need to finish that so that I can publish my Midorima story. Yeah, got a lot on my plate. Also, my exams will be staring in a month which will naturally slow down my updates but worry not! I shall stick on with Mura-chan until I finish. Hehe. Loving the reviews, people! Thank you! Also, I hope the question about her height was answered in this. Hehe. Read and review! _


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Two -**_

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That same day, during lunch, Atsushi decided to eat with her instead of eating with Tatsuya, who always came late because of his fan-girls. When he saw Mika eating alone at her desk, he rushed to her side and pulled his chair to her desk and sat down. Mika didn't look like she minded though, and she simply greeted him with a nod. "What're you eating, Mika-chin?" Atsushi asked with his childlike voice and Mika hummed.

"Ah, this is something called a _Strammer Max_. It's a type of sandwich that you get in the Netherlands. Wanna try?" Mika offered and Atsushi took a bite, which wasn't a normal size of a bite, but Mika didn't mind. She didn't have a large appetite and the sandwiches her father made were extra large anyway. "It's good." Mika smiled at the male and said nothing. "How's it made?" Atsushi's next question almost shocked her, but she didn't show it.

She gulped down the bits of sandwich which was inside her mouth and said, "It's a slice of bread, sometimes fried in butter, covered with ham and fried egg. It's not too difficult to make-"Atsushi took out a packet of chips and opened it, and before taking any of it for himself, he offered it to Mika. Mika blinked and hesitated, but Atsushi's firm gaze forced her to take a chip. "Uh, thanks-""Don't thank me, Mika-chin." Mika didn't know why she blushed at that.

It was then she noticed someone at the classroom door, leaning and watching the two of them eat, and she swore she had seen him around before, just didn't know where. He was smiling at her, but it took her a second to figure out that the boy was smiling at the male beside her, and she poked his shoulder and pointed to the door. "I think he's-""Muro-chin…come inside." Atsushi said, and Mika blinked. So, he was a friend.

This, 'Muro-chin' person had black hair, one side covering his eye and he had a beauty mark. Compared to most Japanese boys she had seen, Muro-chin was really good looking. His smile, however, was the winning material. "Atsushi, what're you doing here?" he asked. Mika noticed that his voice was attractive too. "This is Mika-chin. Mika-chin, that's Muro-chin." Mika giggled at how Atsushi introduced her. She reached out for the black haired male and extended her hand. "Mika Snyder. Nice to meet you."

The dark haired male took her hand and smiled widely before saying, "Tatsuya Himuro. Nice to meet you too, Synder-san-""Please, call me Mika. Last names are weird." Mika shrugged and Tatsuya let out a chuckle as he sat at the desk before them. "I know that feeling. I grew up in the States, so I'm not used to the last name thing they have here either, even if I am Japanese. You…" Mika sighed once and said, "Dad's from Netherlands, and mom's Japanese." Himuro nodded with understanding.

"Did your dad settle here?" Mika nodded and said, "Well, he always wanted to open a bakery, and since he was an athlete he…Uh, yeah so we came down here. I was six or something when we came here, and mom was more than happy to oblige. Dad's been here ever since." The two of them noticed that Mika was hiding something, but it was personal and they did not want to tread on those grounds. Himuro nodded once more and suddenly, Mika felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to her right to see Atsushi stare at her. "Uh…you-""Mika-chin works at a pastry store, but she doesn't like sweets." Himuro laughed at that.

Mika turned to the dark haired male and placed a hand beside her mouth as if to whisper, "Is that a bad thing?" Tatsuya chuckled and said, "Atsushi loves anything sweet. If he shares any with you then that's something really special. He's never shared anything with anyone before." Mika gulped. He had offered her sweets two times that day. He seemed more than willing to share with her. Then again, the way he said, '_Because it's you_,' creeped her out. Mika decided to let that go.

"Muro-chin, do we have practice today?" Mika blinked. "Of course we do. Why'd you ask?" Tatsuya asked and Atsushi sighed with regret. "I wanted to go to Mika-chin's store." Mika blinked and said, "It's not going anywhere, you know. This practice thing seems important." Himuro nodded. "Atsushi barely plays. It's the same if he comes or not. But, I'd appreciate it if he did." Mika wondered which game they were talking about. "Basketball?" she asked, guessing and Himuro nodded.

She wasn't surprised really, considering how tall Atsushi was, basketball seemed like the best sport for him. But, wasn't he interested? "Atsushi-kun, don't you like playing basketball?" Atsushi took in another mouthful of chips and said, "I don't like anything. I play basketball because I'm good at it." Mika didn't know why, but that offended her. She didn't let it show, however. "I want to see you play, though." She muttered and took in the last bit of her sandwich and Himuro glanced at Atsushi with a smirk.

"Then will you take me to your store after practice today?" Mika almost choked on her sandwich. She quickly turned to the purple haired male beside her and her eyes were wide. Was he so easy to convince? "Uh, yeah sure?" she wasn't even sure herself. Himuro grinned and stood up, before saying, "Mika-chan, you look like you're really tall. Can we check our heights?" Mika narrowed her eyes, cocked her eyebrow and Himuro held out his hands in his defense. "I'm just curious! I was in America, so I've seen tall girls. No big deal." Mika grumbled and stood up.

Just as she did stand however, Himuro palced his hands on her shoulders and made her stand right in front of him and he couldn't stop grinning. He looked at Atsushi from the corner of his eye, to see the taller male watch them earnestly. "I'm exactly six feet tall. You, Mika-chan, are an inch shorter." Mika didn't care. "Are you happy now, Muro-_chin_?" Mika teased and Tatsuya chuckled. Atsushi stood next, and grabbed Mika's hand and walked out of the classroom, dragging her along. Himuro stared at the ground, and smirked.

"Atsushi-kun, what happened-""Mika-chin, let's go get snacks. The cafeteria's downstairs." Mika blinked. What was with this guy? Does he always eat? As they walked, Mika couldn't get her hand out of his, and when she looked around, she saw the other students look at them both with curious glances. Mika blushed and stopped, making Atsushi stop as well. She took her hand out of his and said, "Let's go." Atsushi turned away and walked to the cafeteria with her. Once inside, Mika waited for him to finish and the girl sighed.

She brushed her hair and hummed a tune, before she felt a hand go to her skirt. Her eyes widened and she turned to see a group of girls, giggling and making fun of her. They were the same set of girls who painted graffiti on her bag, and the same set of girls who broke her glasses. Mika groaned and tried to walk away, but the grip on her skirt was tight. She wouldn't fight girls, she had told that to herself a long time ago. With one pull, her skirt came loose and it was her sweater that came till her thighs that prevented anything from being seen.

Tears filled Mika's eyes as the entire cafeteria began to laugh at her. With one quick turn of the heel, Mika raced to the bathroom, and locked herself in one of the stalls. She sobbed like no tomorrow inside, and fixed her skirt, ashamed of not doing anything. It was her height that made them think she was different, and it was because of that they picked on her. If she were just some normal five feet one inch girl then that would have been okay. But she was five feet eleven inches. That was not normal.

She was sure that class would have began, but she didn't care. She stayed inside, and didn't want to go until she was sure that the corridors were empty. She would wait till school was over and everyone was out of the school. Mika hated school, and she hated being bullied. The incident that occurred wouldn't be forgotten for another week or so, and she had to live with the embarrassment. Around an hour later, Mika walked out, unable to stay inside any longer and her eyes widened.

She saw Atsushi, stand near the corridor to the opposite side, clutching onto her bag, and eating away a bag full of chips. She froze as she saw him take notice of her and he approached her, handing her bag to her. "Mika-chin…" he said and the tears came back. She pushed herself on to him, and cried as much as she could, hoping he wouldn't push her away. He didn't, and she didn't know why, but she only felt thankful.

"You stayed out here…for me?" She asked, her face embedded in his chest and she could feel him breathe. "I think…"he said, childishly and Mika smiled slightly. "I didn't like what happened back at the cafeteria. So I told them not to do it again."His tone of voice was a little scary, and she was about to push herself off of him when she felt his hand pull her more to him. "Atsushi-""They won't do it again." He said, and she believed him.

She smiled when she realized she had found a friend. Someone, who knew what she was going through. Someone, who would help her when everyone else thought she was different. Someone, who would walk in, when the world walked out.

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_**Author's Note: **Isn't Atsushi the sweetest thing that walked on this earth? (Forget the fact that he doesn't exist, I still love him). This chapter was sweet, even for me. Haha. So, read and review my loves! Tell me what you think. _


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter Three -_**

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Every day was nothing special, neither was it anything new. But, Mika didn't regret going to school as much as she used to. Atsushi was always there, he'd be waiting for her near class, with Himuro for her, and he'd walk to every class with her, even if he didn't share them. She found that sweet, and she liked that, and did as much as she could to compensate. She put all her mind into baking once more and brought sweets and cakes for the tall guy, him not complaining whatsoever.

That evening, when she was watching him practice basketball, Mika was reading a short romance novel, the only kind of novels she would ever read, and paid little or no attention at all to the game. It wasn't as if she was going to miss anything, Atsushi never played seriously. Tatsuya wanted him to, but him showing up to practice itself was a boon, so he didn't complain.

The bullying reduced considerably, since they never found her alone. He would always be with her, or Himuro would be, and the girls would never do anything to make him feel bad. They believed Mika was a friend and weren't even threatened by her stealing their Himuro away since they believed Mika would never attract the handsome boy ever.

That evening, when Mika sat beside the female coach who wasn't actually bothered by her presence, Mika continued reading when the coach suddenly spoke. "Do you and Murasakibara share a relationship?" Mika almost ignored the question, but she blinked and turned to her left to find the coach looking at her sharply. "Uh…yeah, we're friends?" Mika answered and the coach, whose name she wasn't familiar with, just nodded and turned away. "He comes here because you're here. I hope you realized that." Mika made an 'o' with her mouth and nodded once.

"Maybe because I bribe him with sweets?" Mika answered the question with another question and the coach grinned and said, "I don't really care as long as he comes here. He thinks he can get away with it without practice, but even if he's the best player in the world, he needs practice." Mika nodded once again, because honestly, what could you have said in such a situation. "So…I'm responsible for bringing him here?" The coach nodded and Mika cocked her eyebrow.

'So blunt…' the girl thought and turned to Murasakibara who stood where the Center usually stands and stood there scratching his head. "He doesn't like the game." Mika observed and the coach sighed. "That's what he thinks." Mika blinked and turned to the coach once more and said, "He doesn't look like he-""Yes, I know. But, he's more talented than we tend to think. I've seen videos of him play in Middle School and I know he's got potential. He just thinks he doesn't love the game, but deep down he really does. I want him to figure that out."Mika closed her book and said one thing that made the coach smirk.

"Maybe he has to lose once to know it." Mika commented casually, not even realizing the intensity of the statement, and the coach decided not to say anything to that. "Himuro always comes to practice without doubt, and I have nothing to say against the way he performs. It's only Murasakibara who needs surveillance." Mika chuckled and wondered if 'surveillance' was the right word. After practice, Atsushi turned to Mika and said, "Mika-chin, let's go…" Mika nodded and stood up before hearing,

"Name's Masako Araki. Nice to meet you, Snyder-san." Mika chuckled nervously and put her hands forward with embarrassment and said, "It's just Mika…really…"Masako grinned slightly and nodded. Mika turned to where Atsushi stood and walked over there with her bag. Masako sighed and muttered, "Both of them are idiots." And with that the woman left the gym.

Himuro always followed behind Murasakibara and Mika, with a sly grin plastered on his face. Mika was almost let to believe that it was how his face was constructed, because a Himuro without that grin wouldn't be himself. Whenever he saw her he managed to grin at her like that, the very same grin that made girls go crazy over it, but had no effect on Mika. After every practice session, Atsushi came over to Mika's bakery and Himuro would walk to the train station and wait for Atsushi. Mika wondered why Himuro didn't go along with them to the bakery, but never asked.

Until that day.

"Hey, why don't you come with us to the bakery?" Mika asked, scratching her head and Tatsuya grinned once more making Mika beat the back of the boy's head. "Mr. Cocky, I was only asking an innocent question."Mika said and Tatsuya chuckled. "No reason really. I like the train station and besides…" Himuro waved at the two of them and walked away. Mika was fuming. Tatsuya Himuro sometimes got on her nerves.

"He never completes his statements! That's just…ugh! Infuriating." Mika commented next to a very quiet Atsushi who continued chewing on some sort of sweet and Mika sighed once before saying, "Why do you like sweets so much?" Atsushi shrugged and said, "Why do you like egg so much?" Mika blinked and stopped walking for a second.

"How…did you know that?" Mika asked, confused with how Atsushi noticed that. She had never once mentioned her infatuation with eggs, and how much she liked them no matter how they were cooked. Every day, her lunch had a bit of egg in it, but it wasn't something that could have been noticed that well. Was it?

"Your lunch, Mika-chin…you share with me remember?" Mika didn't know why she blushed at that, and she cleared her throat once before saying, "Uh, yeah. I guess I get why you like sweets now." Atsushi grinned like a kid and placed his very large hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "The thing I like about Mika-chin the most is that she never tries more than she can afford." Mika blushed darkly and stared at Atsushi who continued walking to her bakery.

Her heart was pounding against her chest and she fixed her hair, before she caught up with him. He had meant that as a friend, she knew that very well. Atsushi was someone who spoke the truth all the time, and that she appreciated about him the most. He was there for her when no one was, and when he complimented her like that out of the blue, it caught her off guard. "Hey, Atsushi…you're a really friendly guy, you know that?" Atsushi shrugged once more, the sound of him chewing something soft was all she could hear.

And then he hummed, and nothing else was said. She wanted him to say something, but he didn't. When they reached the bakery, Mika was stunned for a second to see her mother there. "Ah, Mika we needed-Oh! Who's this?" Mika blinked and shook her head twice before saying, "This is Atsushi from school. Uh, _Murasakibara_-_kun_ from school. He really likes sweets and he's been coming here every day for the past week." She turned to the tall boy and said, "Atsushi, this is mom." Atsushi wasn't even paying attention, and his eyes were scanning the entire bakery, his eyes travelling from one confectionary to another. "Mika-chin, how much is that one?" He asked, tugging on her sleeve and Mika blinked at her mother and then turned to where the childlike giant was pointed and muttered the price.

Mika's mother grinned and then said, "Help your friend out, I'll be going out for a while. Have a nice time. Nice to meet you, Murasakibara-kun."Atsushi nodded and waved at the woman who stepped out. Mika would have laughed if she were alone, but she wasn't. After around thirty minutes of selecting snacks and rejecting them, Murasakibara placed an exuberant collection of pastries and bread in front of the girl and waited. Mika scanned through every single one of them and wondered how he was going to afford all of it.

She believed he was rich, but when he opened his wallet, she sighed. "I don't have enough, Mika-chin…can I pay with installments?" Mika chuckled and said, "Ah, it's okay. Pay what you can and take the rest for free, I think-"Atsushi turned to the girl and leaned closer to her face, Mika stepping back with surprise. Even if she was on the other side of the front desk, she blushed like a beetroot. "I can't do that Mika-chin, that wouldn't be fair."

Was he…whispering? Mika let out a breath and said, "Uh…well, you can buy what you can…and um, buy the rest tomorrow?" There she goes answering with another question. Atsushi grinned once more and nodded. After he bought what he could, Mika escorted the male out of the store and then froze once more. "Oh no, this is bad." She muttered and turned to the tall male who was oblivious to what was happening.

A boy, as tall as Mika, no, he was a few inches taller, approached the girl and ruffled her hair, before pulling her into a hug. He had dark brown hair which was slightly long, but not as long as Murasakibara's. He wore a school uniform, and as soon as the boy pulled the girl for a hug, Murasakibara pulled Mika away and stood in front of her. "Mika-""Don't do that to Mika-chin…I don't like it-""Atsushi! It's okay, he's actually my little brother." Atsushi blinked.

The boy, Mika's little brother, whose name was Rin, frowned at the taller male and said, "Is there a problem with me hugging my sister?" Atsushi shook his head and said, "I didn't know you were her brother." Rin sighed. "Boyfriend, Mika?" Mika blushed and beat her brother on the head before pushing him inside. Rin chuckled and left them alone. "Ignore him, he…he's stupid." Mika said, brushing a hand through her hair. Atsushi blinked with confusion with the way Mika behaved, but spoke nothing.

It was only him, Atsushi thought. Only he didn't understand why Mika pushed her brother inside like that.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **Atsushi's such a cute dork. Ah well. Yes. So, tell me what you think guys! Read and review! _


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